I set my report to the side and glanced at the door, listening for the sound of Hyebin’s footsteps returning. When no sound came, I hurried around the desk and tapped the surface of the scrying pool. Four glimmering words floated to the surface of the screen.
Please enter your signature
I sighed. Of course Hong Gildong’s scrying pool was locked. Surely no one had access to files more important than him. I pulled open a couple drawers, hoping he might have jotted his signature down on a Post-it or something, but all I found were unorganized office supplies in various shades of gold—scissors, staples, paper clips, thumbtacks. Considering that most of our documents weren’t actually paper, I figured this was just part of Hong Gildong’s hoard rather than anything he actually used.
I sighed and shut the drawers, moving around the desk before Hyebin could catch me snooping and have yet another reason to hate me.
I grabbed a gold stapler off the desk and stapled the top corner of my report. As I started to set it on top of Hyebin’s other papers, I noticed the file at the top of the stack, and my hand froze. There, in bold black letters, was the name of the last agent to turn in their report:
KIM YEJUN
Chapter Seventeen
Iread the name over and over again until it no longer looked real.
Yejun didn’t work for the descendants anymore, so it must have been someone else with the same name. Kim was a common name, after all.
I tensed at the sound of the elevator dinging at the end of the hallway. Hyebin could come back any moment, or worse—Hong Gildong. I dug my phone out of my pocket and snapped as many photos of the report as I could, then jammed the file into the middle of the stack and slapped my report on top.
The door swung open and Hyebin strode back in, hesitating at the sight of me by the desk.
“You’re still here?” she said. “What the hell are you doing? Get out.”
“Yes, Sunbaenim,” I said, bowing and hurrying around the desk. I’d almost reached the doorway when Hyebin called for me.
“Wait,” she said.
I froze, my hand an inch from the doorknob. There was no wayHyebin could tell that I’d read someone else’s report, right? Were there cameras in Hong Gildong’s office? I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry as Hyebin crossed the room and stood behind me.
“Here,” she said.
I turned around slowly. She was holding her hand out to me, something shiny clenched in her fist. I held out both hands and let her drop it into my palms.
I half expected it to be some kind of grenade, but when I opened my palm to examine it, I saw a key chain with a tiny gold ladybug charm.
“I bought it last week,” she said, stuffing her hands in her pockets and looking away. “Your graduation present. I can’t return it, so… congrats, I guess.”
It was cheap and silly looking and so very un-Hyebin-like that the thought of her buying it at the store actually made me smile. Then I felt ashamed all over again—she’d gotten me a present and I’d insulted her to her face. “Thank you, Sunbaenim,” I said, bowing probably too deeply.
“Go home,” she said, waving me off.
I wanted to say more, but I could tell I was no longer welcome. I trudged to the door and closed it behind me, clutching the ladybug in one hand. I held it close to my chest as I rode the elevator down.
Out on the street, I hurried against the flow of foot traffic. I came to a stop on the bridge across the Bulgwang stream and gripped the railing with one hand. The cold metal shocked life back into my palm, and I realized how badly I was shaking. I pocketed the ladybug key chain and took out my phone.
Quarter Three Report:Kim Yejun, Associate Agent (1027C)
Supervisor:Hong Gildong [alias], Seoul Branch President (003)
QUARTERLY ASSIGNMENT
Primary Objective:Ascertain the loyalty of Agent-in-Training Yang Mina (Agent 1475C).
Determine:
The approximate level of Yang Mina’s power with regard to her dragon energy and ability to control it effectively
(Note: Yang Mina is flagged for extra review due to suspected genetic predisposition for enhanced powers—see file 1475B, “Yang Hana.”)
